1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of orientators, for enabling visually handicapped persons to examine objects having projecting details, such as a relief illustration.
2. Prior Art
In the past, there has been described several items for use by the visually handicapped including: U.S. Pat. No. 2,915,874-Ferguson depicting a clock with tactile indicators; U.S. Pat. No. 2,456,155-Seaman disclosing a device for facilitating the instruction of the Braille alphabet; U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,017-Lucas disclosing a Braille finder for use in conjunction with a manually movable part; U.S. Pat. No. 2,523,828-Howe depicting pictures intended for manual sensing by the visually handicapped; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,070-Boston, describing an amusement and instructional coloring book for the visually handicapped. None of these references describe, or utilize, a grid structure for overlaying the object, having tactilely identifiable reference points.
However, a type of overlaying structure is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,401,105-Richards whose design and use is directed towards persons who impliedly have no visual handicap. There is described a grid formed of two sets of wires at right angles to one another supported by a frame and disposed in the plane of the frame with part of the grid being cut away at its center to form an open space. This open space is designed so that the structure may be placed on a person's face, the nose projecting through the open space. The two sets of wires, therefore, would form a graph to assist or teach an artist front view portrait drawing.
None of the above mentioned devices can be used by visually handicapped persons as an orientator to examine objects having projecting details, such as relief illustrations. Thus, instruction in or descriptions of such objects have been incomplete or inadequate at best.